1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to novel adjuvants for detergency, a process for their preparation and the use thereof as anti-soiling and anti-redeposition agents in detergent compositions, especially those employed for washing textile articles and, in particular, articles containing polyester fibers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, serious detergency problems are encountered in view of the increasingly important development of polyester fibers. In fact, it is known that cloths containing a considerable proportion of polyester fibers, e.g., Dacron, tend to be very hydrophobic. This characteristic enables greasy stains to become fixed on the fabric on or into which they have been deposited and such phenomenon, accordingly, makes them difficult to remove. A further well-known disadvantage of polyester fibers is that, during washing, soiling matter present in the washing bath can be deposited on the fabric. Furthermore, polyester fibers become charged with static electricity, either when being worn or during the drying operation. One means of overcoming the abovementioned disadvantages is to deposit, on the fibers, a finish which imparts a certain hydrophilic character thereto.
It has been proposed to produce this effect by adsorbing, on the polyester fibers, polymers containing hydrophobic units and hydrophilic units, joined to one another by an ester function [compare French Pat. No. 1,499,508] or by a urethane function [compare commonly assigned pending application, Ser. No. 804,391, filed June 7, 1977, itself a continuation-in-part of abandoned application, Ser. No. 748,296, filed Dec. 7, 1976].
The said polymers of the prior art exhibit properties of an anti-soiling agent by facilitating the removal of stains on cloths and properties of an anti-redeposition agent by maintaining the soiling matter in suspension, in order to prevent same from being redeposited during washing. However, although these polymers are effective when care has been taken to disperse them in water beforehand, they do not afford complete satisfaction when incorporated in the form of a powder in a detergent. When used at a low dose under such conditions, these products are insufficiently effective because of their poor redissolution during washing. Furthermore, the anti-soiling and anti-redeposition properties are not perfectly stable when these products are stored in a washing powder.